1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to an apparatus and method for perceiving and reporting a neighborhood object (animate or inanimate thing), and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for rapidly perceiving a neighborhood object entering, residing in, or leaving a neighborhood area in a mobile environment, and reporting information on the perceived neighborhood object according to various reporting conditions.
2. Related Art
According to a conventional method of perceiving and reporting a neighborhood object in a mobile environment, a central server provides information on neighborhood objects based on terminal location information. This method is commonly and widely applied in a service called “find a friend.”
According to such a method, in a state where a plurality of mobile communication terminals are located within the same base station area, a user accesses a mobile site that provides a same location reporting service by using a first mobile communication terminal. Then, the user registers/stores information on other target parties for the same location reporting service.
Specifically, the information that the user inputs includes names and phone numbers of the plurality of target parties (e.g., family, friends, schoolmates, colleagues, etc.) to thereby register/store the information. If the user requests approval for using the same location reporting service through the first mobile communication terminal, then a data processor/manager stores the information on the plurality of other target parties, transmitted from the first mobile communication terminal, in a database (DB). Then, the data processor/manager searches for numbers of second mobile communication terminals located in the same location (specified location) or locations within a certain distance.
That is, a same location reporting controller first stores information on the registered first and second mobile communication terminals in the DB in real time. Then, the same location reporting controller performs a real-time search for the second mobile communication terminals near locations within the same base station area according to given conditions by making reference to the stored information. When at least one of the second mobile communication terminals is near the same location, the same location reporting controller sends a short message service (SMS) text message to the first mobile communication terminal.
However, in perceiving and reporting a neighborhood object in the manner as described, there is an inconvenience in that a mobile communication service must be used. Moreover, there is a problem in that when there are many users, the speed of perceiving a neighborhood object is slow because a central server is commonly used by the many users. Furthermore, because information on a perceived neighborhood object is not reported in consideration of various situations, but according to a system default condition through simple perception, there is another inconvenience in that a user must occasionally manually manage and set a reporting condition for neighborhood situations.